deus ex machina
E457120
Deus ex machina is a dramatic device in which an unexpected, often divine or external intervention suddenly resolves a seemingly unsolvable conflict or plot situation.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| deus ex machina canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4648865 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: deus ex machina Context triple: [Philoctetes (Sophocles), dramaticDevice, deus ex machina]
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A.
Thesmophoros
Thesmophoros is an epithet of the Greek goddess Demeter that emphasizes her role as the bringer and guardian of agricultural laws and social order.
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B.
Electra paradox
The Electra paradox is an ancient Greek logical puzzle, attributed to Eubulides of Miletus, that explores issues of identity and recognition through the scenario of Electra failing to recognize her own brother Orestes.
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C.
Gorgophone
Gorgophone is a figure in Greek mythology, traditionally known as a daughter of Perseus and Andromeda and noted as one of the first women to remarry after being widowed.
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D.
Epipsychidion
Epipsychidion is a lyrical poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley that explores idealized love, spiritual affinity, and the quest for a transcendent soulmate.
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E.
Pythia
Pythia was the high priestess and oracle of Apollo at the ancient Greek sanctuary of Delphi, famed for delivering prophetic pronouncements to individuals and city-states.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: deus ex machina Target entity description: Deus ex machina is a dramatic device in which an unexpected, often divine or external intervention suddenly resolves a seemingly unsolvable conflict or plot situation.
-
A.
Thesmophoros
Thesmophoros is an epithet of the Greek goddess Demeter that emphasizes her role as the bringer and guardian of agricultural laws and social order.
-
B.
Electra paradox
The Electra paradox is an ancient Greek logical puzzle, attributed to Eubulides of Miletus, that explores issues of identity and recognition through the scenario of Electra failing to recognize her own brother Orestes.
-
C.
Gorgophone
Gorgophone is a figure in Greek mythology, traditionally known as a daughter of Perseus and Andromeda and noted as one of the first women to remarry after being widowed.
-
D.
Epipsychidion
Epipsychidion is a lyrical poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley that explores idealized love, spiritual affinity, and the quest for a transcendent soulmate.
-
E.
Pythia
Pythia was the high priestess and oracle of Apollo at the ancient Greek sanctuary of Delphi, famed for delivering prophetic pronouncements to individuals and city-states.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
literary term
ⓘ
narrative device ⓘ plot device ⓘ |
| affects | plot outcome ⓘ |
| associatedWith | use of stage crane to lower gods onto stage ⓘ |
| canBeUsedFor |
allegorical meaning
ⓘ
comic effect ⓘ satirical effect ⓘ |
| contrastsWith |
character-driven resolution
ⓘ
foreshadowed resolution ⓘ logically developed plot solution ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
breaking internal story logic
ⓘ
reducing character agency ⓘ undermining narrative tension ⓘ |
| discussedIn |
literary criticism
ⓘ
narratology ⓘ |
| evaluatedAs | weak storytelling technique by many critics ⓘ |
| hasCharacteristic |
external intervention
ⓘ
often criticized as contrived ⓘ often divine intervention ⓘ often implausible ⓘ sudden plot resolution ⓘ unexpected resolution ⓘ |
| hasEtymology | derived from ancient Greek theatre practice ⓘ |
| hasLiteralMeaning | god from the machine ⓘ |
| hasOriginalLanguage | Latin ⓘ |
| involves | introduction of new element late in plot ⓘ |
| oftenInvolves |
powerful authority figure
ⓘ
sudden discovery ⓘ supernatural forces ⓘ unexpected rescue ⓘ unexplained coincidence ⓘ |
| originatedIn | ancient Greek drama ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
happy ending
ⓘ
narrative closure ⓘ plot twist ⓘ |
| requires | suspension of disbelief ⓘ |
| resolves |
apparently hopeless situation
ⓘ
seemingly unsolvable conflict ⓘ |
| usedBy |
novelists
ⓘ
playwrights ⓘ screenwriters ⓘ |
| usedIn |
drama
ⓘ
film ⓘ literature ⓘ storytelling ⓘ television ⓘ theatre ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: deus ex machina Description of subject: Deus ex machina is a dramatic device in which an unexpected, often divine or external intervention suddenly resolves a seemingly unsolvable conflict or plot situation.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.